Guard-rail fastener.



PATENTED FEB. 19, 1907.

F. GLEARY & J. GARRITY. GUARD RAIL FASTENER.

APPLIOATION FILED DBO. 5,1906.

A TTORNE Y5 ri'n rnn STATES PATENT UFFTQE.

GUARD-RAIL FASTENER- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 19, 1907.

Application filed December 5,1906. Serial No. 346,481.

To (LZZ whom, it ntay concern:

Be it known that we, FRANK CLEARY and J OIiN Gnnnrrr, citizens of the United States, residing at Rugby, in the county of Pierce and State of North Dakota, have invented a new and useful Guard-Rail Fastener, of which the following is a specification.

This invention has relation to guard-rail fasteners; and it consists in the novel construction and arrangement of its parts, as hereinafter shown and described.

The object of the invention is to provide a fastener of the character indicated which is of simple construction and durable nature and is especially adapted to be used to advantage to maintain the proper relation between a track-rail and a guardrail.

The fastener may be applied to the track and guard rails without cutting or adzing the ties.

The fastener consists primarily of a body portion having at its end upwardly and inwardly turned lugs which are adapted to receive the flanges of the track and guard rails, respectively, an intermediate lug being provided for the reception of the opposlte flange of the guard-rail.

The fastener is held in place upon the track and guard rails by frictional contact therewith, and consequently when it is placed in position it is driven laterally for a short distance, and as the guard-rail diverges slightly at its ends from the track-rail and as the fastenors are applied at such points the said fasteners are firmly seated and the guard-rail is clenched between the opposite edges of the intermediate lug and the end lug of the body portion that receives the flange of the last said rail.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a top plan view showing the fastener applied to a track and guard rail. Fig. 2 is a trans verse sectional view of the same, cut on the line 2 2. Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the track and guard rails, showing the lugs of the fastener in horizontal section and before the said fastener has been driven laterally; and Fig. i is a top plan view of the track and guard rails, showing the lugs of the fastener in horizontal section and after the said fastener has been driven horizontally.

The fastener comprises the body portion 1, which is provided at one end with the upwardly and inwardly extending lug 2, which is adapted to receive the flange of the trackrail 3. At its opposite end the said body 01'- tion 1 is provided with an upwardly an in wardly extending lug 4, which is adapted to receive the outer flange of the guard-rail 5. At an intermediate point the said body portion 1 is provided with an upwardly and laterally extending flange 6, the end of which is disposed in the opposite direction to the end of the lug 4-. The said lug 6 is adapted to receive the inner flange of the guard-rail 5.

The fastener is applied to the rails 3 and 5 in the following manner: The end of the guard-rail 5 is inserted between the ends of the lugs 4 and 6, and the said lugs he ever the flanges of the said rail 5. The fastener 1 is then moved along the diverging portion of the rail 5 until the lug 2 may be passed over the outer flange of the track-rail 3. The said fastener 1 is then moved in the opposite direction until the lug 2 fits snugly over the flange of the rail 3. The parts are then substantially in the positions as shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings. A few blows are then delivered to the body portion 1, which forces the same in the direction of the end of the guard-rail 5, and the inner edge of the lug A is slightly flattened, as at 7, (see Fig. 4,) by being forced in contact with the edge of the hardened-steel flange of the rail 5, while the opposite diagonally-located edge of the lug 6 will be brought into close contact with the edge of the opposite flange of the rail 5 and will engage the same and tend to prevent the return of the body portion 1. Thus the said fastener is held in place upon the rail and the rails are held by the fasteners in proper relation to each other. The fastener is applied to the rails between the track-ties and the road-bed, and consequently may be moved laterally, as above described.

The fastener is one integral piece, and consequently is cheap to manufacture and of a durable nature and may be readily applied.

Having described the invention, what is claimed is 1. A guard-rail fastener comprising a body portion for connecting the track and guardrails together at points between the ties, said body portion having at its ends upwardly and inwardly extending lugs for the reception of the flanges of the track and guard rails respectively, and at an intermediate point a lug for the reception of the inner flange of the guard-rail, said fastener being adapted to be forced laterally whereby the edge of the intermediate lug is brought into close frictional contact with the edge of the guard-rail flange.

2. A guard-rail fastener comprising a body portion having at its ends upwardly and in- I Wardly extending lugs for the reception of the flanges of the track and guard rails respectively, said body portion having an intermediate lug for the reception of the inner flange of the guard-rail, said fastener being adapted to be forced laterally whereby the edge of its end lug in engagement with the 1 guardrail flange is flattened and the diagonally opposite edge of the intermediate lug is brought into close contact with the flange of the guard-rail.

In testimony that we claim the foregoing as our own we have hereto affixed our signatures in the presence of two Witnesses.

FRANK CLEARY. JOHN GARRITY. Witnesses: 

